AFL Club members, participants and volunteers in Queensland and Northern NSW are invited to attend on Thursday November 22. The event will again be staged at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre in Broadbeach from 5.30 – 7.30pm (local time).

The 2012 NAB AFL Draft will also be broadcast live nationally on Fox Sports.

Re: 2012 Compensation Picks, Draft Order

Cheers mate, thought it might have been 3 hours behind! Hmm hopefully will get through the picks before I leave for work.

What are your thoughts on WC not entering the draft until Pick 46 in the 3rd round? Wellingham no doubt a nice pick-up, but given this draft is said to be reasonably shallow, was wondering if you thought WC had their eye on a few sleepers (mature-age or not) or they had some other plan; I think you have a couple of live picks in the 60s too.

Re: 2012 Compensation Picks, Draft Order

My understanding is the draft drops away after the top 20 picks but there is a few sleepers/gems no doubt available later in the draft, like there is every year.

Wellingham was targeted as the ideal ready made player to help us make that jump to genuine premiership contender. Woosha said after our semi final loss that speed in the midfield is the main area we would be focusing which I agree with entirely. Wellingham is 24 years old ( so still has plenty of footy ahead of him), is a versatile player that can play as a pure ball winning midfielder/ run with midfielder/ wing or half forward & has speed that we sorely need. He is also a WA boy so the opportunity to return home to family was another factor no doubt in influencing him to come home. His addition to our midfielder adds real depth - premiership player from 2010, knows what is required to be successful, I don't think most realize how good a ball winning midfielder he can be as he didn't get much of an opportunity to do so at the pies with the likes of Pendlebury, Swan, Ball, Sidebottom & Beams demanding more minutes in the middle. His ability to play as a run with player also then allows Scott Selwood to become a pure ball winner which he thrived upon earlier in the 2012 season. When WCE played some of the poorer sides who didn't have a real A grade midfielder he played in this role, racking up 30 possessions regularly. So in summation I think pick 18 was a fair trade for both clubs - pies get a first round pick & we get a ready made midfielder who we know is AFL quality & fits the criteria we required.

WCE have picks 46,61,62 ( Lynch compo), 81, 99,117 & 135. I believe we will have 3 "live" picks in the draft - Brad Dick has been promised he will be elevated to the senior list which I would think pick 81 will be used for meaning we have picks 46,61 & 62. Looking at our list & what we need, I think we will look at a big bodied mid with an inside & outside game - with Swift & Stevens gone, our younger mids are all on the smaller side :- Shuey, S Selwood, Masten, Gaff are all about 6 foot ( 182cms). For our list balance a mid in the 186cm range would be ideal. I also think we will draft a key defender with Glass playing his final year next & the doubts over Mitch Brown staying. EMac is the only other genuine key defender on our list, Schofield is more suited to the 3rd tall/ running defender role, Fraser McInnes can play either end but the club is developing him more as a CHF at this stage. The other pick I would expect us to look at injecting more speed as another small fwd/rotate in midfield maybe on the agenda with Weedon & Neates delisted. So in an ideal world & being realistic, here are the 3 guys I would love WCE to pick with their write-ups courtesy of Knightmare from BF who I believe is the most informed draft expect over there :-

For pick 46 :-

Samuel Lowrie (WA – Mid/Def)
Height: 187cm, Weight: 80kg, DOB: 22/07/1994
Recruited from: South Fremantle
Style:
Player comparison:
Range: 35-65
Profile: Lowrie is a tall midfielder who has played some really impressive footy and has produced some big numbers and shown strong improvement with particularly impressive late season form. Strong mark overhead. Lowrie can play either inside or outside to a high level and gets that combination of inside and outside ball. Lowrie is one of those work all day types and endurance would be up with the best in this draft.

Pick 61 :-

Nick Rodda (WA – KPD)
Height: 194cm, Weight: 94kg, DOB: 06/07/1994
Recruited from: West Perth
Style:
Player comparison:
Range: 45-rookie
Profile: Strongly built key defender who has impressed with his rebounding game. Defensively ok but not great struggling against the quicker forwards for pace but then also against those stronger in the air. Athletically only average. Has shown strong progress this year and his rebounding game is much improved. Strong mark down back at times and is often willing to attack the ball and go for the mark rather than just the spoil which is often a good sign in a defender. Reads it well down back and is willing to take those intercept marks. Has a long kick on him and uses it well for a key defender.

Pick 62 :-

Shane Nelson (WA – Mid/Fwd)
Height: 179cm, Weight: 73kg, DOB: 11/05/1993
Recruited from: West Perth Football Club
Style: Leigh Montagna
Player comparison:
Range: late-rookie
Profile: Big accumulator through the midfield and has only lifted his output again this year. Nelson has very good endurance but also excellent speed testing exceptionally well at last year’s draft combine. What allows him to accumulate so much of the ball is his ability to run to the right spots to find it effortlessly. He has a solid skill set and links up well finding targets by foot consistently and can use both feet well. While he has a nice skill set I’m probably not as sold on his decision making under pressure, looks rushed much of the time. Marking overhead strong for size. Dangerous around goal. Should have been drafted last year and deserves an opportunity this year with the way he has continued to improve his production.

All WA boys, fair to say both WCE & Freo would be considering all these guys with their picks. Brant Colledge ( Key fwd), Dean Kent (Mid), Shannon Taylor ( very quick mid/fwd but has off-field issues)& Marvin Warrell ( very quick mid/fwd) are other players who I would not be surprised to see taken by WCE in the national draft or in the rookie draft. I expect WCE to take a project ruckman in the rookie draft, Myles Bolger ( 201cms/90kgs) from South Fremantle could be one they look at closely.

Re: 2012 Compensation Picks, Draft Order

Originally Posted by Bunga

All WA boys, fair to say both WCE & Freo would be considering all these guys with their picks. Brant Colledge ( Key fwd), Dean Kent (Mid), Shannon Taylor ( very quick mid/fwd but has off-field issues)& Marvin Warrell ( very quick mid/fwd) are other players who I would not be surprised to see taken by WCE in the national draft or in the rookie draft. I expect WCE to take a project ruckman in the rookie draft, Myles Bolger ( 201cms/90kgs) from South Fremantle could be one they look at closely.

Interestingly, Fremantle's last 13 Draft/PSD selections have all been interstate players, whilst I think it's 8 of the last 11 WC players selected in the draft/psd have been from WA. Our recruiting manager or whatever Brad Lloyd is based out of Melbourne whislt his WC counterpart is based here, so that'd have a lot to do with it. I think if you looked at the respective coaching panels you'd also see a pretty similar split. There's merit in both strategies; significantly more young players come from Vic than WA, and SA produces a lot of quality too, so widening the approach should theoretically bring better talent, but not having to worry about players wanting to go home, and the contractual luxury that comes with must be worth something, especially given what Koby Stevens has gone and done. I

I think it's all circumstantial; from what I've read Freo were quite keen on McInnes at Pick 20 last year but were surprised that Crozier slipped so far, I wouldn't say we actively target interstaters or you actively target locals.